Toxicity
by VyxenSkye
Summary: On a simple scouting mission Naruto and Sasuke encounter something extra, and Naruto is forced to care for a poisoned and ailing Sasuke. Deep friendship NaruSasu.
1. Chapter 1

Toxicity  
By: Hitokiri Musei  
Rated: T

Summary: On a simple scouting mission Naruto and Sasuke encounter something extra, and Naruto is forced to care for a poisoned and ailing Sasuke. Deep friendship NaruSasu.

**As a warning now, it may end up being yaoi later on, I don't know yet. It depends on where the fic goes. Until it changes, I couldn't tell you. Just know that the two are good friends, like they should have been in the series.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, never have, never will. Sadness. **

_**A/N:**_ Sasuke never went to Sound in this story, so I suppose it is a little AU. I'm going along the lines of Naruto managed to get him back at the battle at the Valley of the End, which I will probably discuss later in the story. All three are roughly 17, and jounin.

_**A/N 2: **_All information about poisons obtained from wikipedia. All information about jutsus and various Naruto information obtained from Narutopedia, a wikia.

* * *

Chapter 1

"Come on… Come on!"

The blond pushed himself faster, trying to almost fly through the trees as he hurried back to his village, his breath fast and hard. The body against his chest was growing still and he jolted the figure sharply.

"Come on, stay awake, teme!"

Dull black eyes slowly traveled up to look at him, a slow blink covering them after a moment. The pale hand that was entwined in his jacket tightened for a moment, and then began to loosen once more.

Naruto let out a cry. "Damnit Sasuke, stay awake!"

Sasuke's head drooped again, his cheek lying against the orange clothed shoulder. "S'rry…" he murmured, and then his eyelids dropped, his fingers falling from the jacket.

Naruto braked suddenly, stopping on a tree branch. Sasuke's body had fallen limp in his grasp, the dark head falling back on a boneless neck. The blond felt panic flare through him. "Sasuke?"

Nothing.

Naruto shook the other roughly, fearfully. "Don't do this to me Sasuke, open your eyes!"

There was no response. Naruto's heart skipped a few beats, nearly stopping as he looked down at Sasuke's pale, and yet flushed, face. The Uchiha's face was completely relaxed, something that was almost never seen.

"No… No!"

Naruto started moving again, pouring on more and more speed as he leapt through the branches. 'Hold on, Sasuke! Please!'

* * *

_(1 month earlier)_

"I can't believe her… stupid baa-chan… sending me out here with that teme…"

Naruto sent a glare to his left, where Sasuke Uchiha was leaping through the trees after him, onyx eyes focused straight ahead, face calm and composed, mask firmly in place.

Tsunade had seen fit to send the two out on a simple mission together, only to patrol the borders where there had been a little bit of suspicious activity. Sakura was originally supposed to go with them, but an emergency at the hospital had called her away. Naruto had assured her that whatever the problem, he and Sasuke would be able to handle it.

Certainly, with both of them at the level of jounin, there would be no problems. Sasuke himself could probably take on an entire battalion and still come out relatively unscathed. Naruto would probably be able to as well, though he, as a bit more of a berserker fighter, would no doubt be a little scarred up.

Naruto sighed slightly, glancing back in front of him as he leapt through the trees. He and Sasuke were actually on better terms now; it wasn't like it had been in their childhood. A bitter rivalry had turned to toleration, and slowly to friendship. Their bond had not been solidified until sometime after the Valley of the End incident, but now Sasuke was someone that Naruto was proud to call his best friend.

The blond glanced over at his companion, looking him over silently. Sasuke had grown quite a bit, reaching 5'7 not long after the age of 16. While Sasuke had reached his full height faster than his two teammates, he had stayed at that size, and Naruto and Sakura had surpassed him. Sakura was only an inch taller than the Uchiha, but Naruto was the tallest of the group, standing at 5'11.

Sasuke had remained rather petite, even throughout his years as an elite ninja. He was slender and lightly muscled, though he still seemed rather feminine and, in a way, even a little bit delicate. Even so, he was a powerful and formidable ninja, and his Sharingan made him even more of a challenge.

Naruto himself was quite different. In the five years since his fight with Sasuke at the Valley of the End, he had grown and changed in mind and body. He was more mature now, his mind sharpened into that of a quick thinking and talented ninja. His shoulders had broadened, and his natural sun-kissed tan had remained. While he still liked to fool around and have fun, he now knew when to mess around and when to be serious.

"Naruto."

The soft voice startled the blond out of his thoughts and his blue eyes instantly swiveled to the source of the call, his eyes colliding with onyx orbs. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and flickered ahead of them, signaling that the dark-haired ninja had sensed someone's presence.

Naruto nodded slightly, turning his gaze forward and then sniffing the air lightly. Over the years his connection to Kyuubi had almost strengthened, and now he could use the fox's senses at will. His heightened sense of smell was almost as powerful as the Inuzuka clan's, and he found that he could easily track and locate people around him.

Sure enough, the scent came to him and he could tell that there were at least three people just ahead of them. Naruto instantly stopped, his eyes darkening to a light shade of lavender as the Kyuubi's power flowed through him, giving him the sharp senses of the fox. His ears could now pick up any conversation, or movement, if the ninja in front of him did either.

Sasuke moved close to his side, placing a pale hand on Naruto's shoulder. The blond turned to look at his companion; Sasuke's eyes were Sharingan red, the black tomoes spinning slowly, responding to Sasuke's emotions.

Naruto had no time to do much; the ninja in front of them must have realized that they had been found, as they started moving closer at an alarming pace. Naruto's upper lip rose, revealing a sharpened canine as a soft growl escaped his throat. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his gaze traveling towards where he knew the enemy nin to be.

At that moment a form burst from the trees, flying towards them at a startling pace. Naruto and Sasuke were instantly moving, darting away from the attack and easily dodging the attempt. Naruto's eyes flew towards another ninja as the enemy came at him, his hands coming up to form a familiar sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two more Narutos appeared, both taking their tasks of helping to defeat the remaining ninja who had been heading for Sasuke. Even though the dark-haired ninja could have handled him, Naruto didn't want Sasuke to be overwhelmed.

Naruto scanned the ninja as he exchanged basic taijutsu with him, trying to locate some form of identification that would tell him where this ninja came from. There was no visible headband, so he had no idea.

He was brought back to the fight as his opponent performed quick seals. "Kaze no Yaiba!"

Blades of wind moved towards him, knocking him off balance and sending him away from the branch he had been perched on. He quickly righted himself, springing off of a nearby branch and flinging himself back towards his enemy.

"Sensatsu Suishō!"

Naruto yelped as needles of water formed around him and then flew forward. He quickly leapt straight up, managing to escape most harm, even though a few needles embedded themselves in his skin.

A nearby shout pulled him away from his own fight, and he turned to see Sasuke forming quick hand seals. "Katon! Gokaku no Jutsu!"

Fireballs spilled out, burning across the opponent that was quickly dispatching Naruto's clones, leaving him out of the game. Naruto growled softly, not about to be outdone by his friend and rival.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A clone appeared next him, rapidly shaping currents and chakra in his right palm. Naruto grinned, diving for his opponent. "Rasengan!"

The enemy nin had no time to think, Naruto's Rasengan blasted through his midsection and left him falling through the trees, already dead. Naruto turned in time to see the ninja that Sasuke was fighting rear back, getting ready to blow out.

Suspecting a fire type jutsu of some sort, Naruto had no worries. After all, Sasuke was an Uchiha, fire style was his specialty

"Dokugiri!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "No!"

Sasuke was caught right in the face with the deadly cloud of faintly yellowish gas that was nearly colorless. Naruto stared in shock; he remembered it being purple when Shizune had used it. Was this a different type of poison?

Naruto quickly attacked the enemy, trying to disable him without killing him so he could try and find out what type of poison Sasuke had been subjected to. The enemy nin merely smiled wickedly at him, disappearing a moment later using a transportation jutsu.

Naruto felt his heart stop as he looked to Sasuke, who was standing on his branch in a bit of a daze. The blond quickly leapt to his friend's side, landing in front of the Uchiha. "Sasuke?"

The black-haired man blinked slightly, and then frowned. "What Naruto?"

Some sort of relief poured through the taller. "Thank the Fourth… I was worried you'd gotten a big dose of that…"

Sasuke snorted slightly. "Just a little bit, I'm not a dobe like…"

As the Uchiha's voice faded Naruto grew worried. "Sasuke?"

There was no response, and then Sasuke's body crumpled like a rag doll, hitting the branch with a sickening thud.

"SASUKE!"


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, two updates in one night... I really like this story though, and apparantly my muses do as well! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2

Naruto dived for his friend, getting there in time to see Sasuke's eyes snap open and his body spring up, swaying slightly and then steadying. Naruto tried to reign in his heartbeat, staring at his friend in fear. "S-Sasuke?"

The raven-haired jounin turned to look at the blond. "I'm okay, just felt a little dizzy. Don't worry about it."

Naruto frowned stubbornly at that. "Don't tell me not to worry. I think we need to get you back to the village, take you to see a doctor."

Sasuke snorted lightly. "I'm fine, Naruto. Besides, we still have a mission to complete. Come on."

The blond had no time to protest, Sasuke was leaping away through the trees in front of him. Naruto growled softly, springing after his friend as quickly as he could. He managed to catch the Uchiha, grabbing his elbow and yanking him to a halt. "Sasuke, you just collapsed back there! We need to get you to a doctor!"

Sasuke's black eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I told you Naruto, I'm _fine._" The tone of Sasuke's voice clearly indicated his anger, and the Uchiha yanked his arm away from Naruto, glaring slightly. "Nothing is wrong."

With that Sasuke was moving once more, leaving Naruto growling in anger on the branch. He decided that he was going to just follow Sasuke a little more closely; with how mad Sasuke was getting, there was no way he was going to be able to get him to go back to Konoha. Even out of it, Sasuke was powerful enough to disable Naruto.

It wasn't long before Naruto realized that they were heading in a direction he had never been before. He frowned, now concerned as he continued to follow Sasuke through the rapidly dimming sunlight. "Sasuke!" he called, speeding up slightly. "I think we should head back now, it's getting dark!"

Sasuke didn't seem to hear him, still leaping through the trees at a steady pace. Naruto's frown deepened and he reached out, pulling Sasuke to a halt by his elbow once more. "Sasuke!"

Black eyes were narrow and dazed. "Not so loud, Naruto." Sasuke murmured quietly. "I've got a headache…"

Naruto felt something in his mind sing out. Something was wrong. There was no way that Sasuke had gotten away from that poison unscathed, and this was definitely not like the Sasuke he knew.

The blond looked up as the sun sank below the horizon. "Come on Sasuke, let's get back now. We need to get you to a doctor."

Sasuke shook his head stubbornly, but the movement made him sway slightly. Naruto quickly steadied him concern leaking into his features. Sasuke rolled his eyes slightly as he regained his balance. "Fine, we'll go. But only because it's getting dark."

The Uchiha darted away from him, leaving Naruto to swear under his breath. Even in this state Sasuke retained his nature, and his ninja training made it easier for him to get away from Naruto, no matter how hard the blond tried to keep him in sight.

A few more minutes of jumping through the trees and Naruto blinked as a drop of water hit him in the face. It quickly escalated into a chilly rain, and Naruto swore under his breath once more. "Great, just what we need, freezing rain. As if things weren't bad enough…"

Again Naruto realized that they were heading in directions that he did not know. He growled softly, moving forward to leap beside Sasuke as the Uchiha moved through the trees, ignoring the rain falling around him.

They came to a halt on the ground, the mud squelching under their sandals as they landed. Sasuke was panting slightly, but Naruto was hardly winded. While the Kyuubi certainly gave him a bit more stamina, they hadn't been moving very fast or very long, Sasuke should not have been fazed.

Naruto took a step forward, putting a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Sasuke, are you alright? Can you breathe okay?"

Sasuke blinked slightly, looking around him. "Where are we?"

Naruto blinked in shock. "What do you mean where are we? You lead us here, teme!"

The Uchiha turned to look at his friend, and Naruto could see that Sasuke's eyes were dark and dazed, fuzzy. Something was definitely wrong.

"That's it." Naruto grouched. "I'm taking you to the doctor whether you like it or not. Even if I have to carry your ass there."

This somehow snapped Sasuke out of his daze, his Uchiha pride kicking in. "You're not carrying me anywhere, dobe. I told you already I'm just fine, you don't have to---AAAAAAAAAH!"

His statement was cut off as he took a step to the left and the cliff beneath his foot gave way, the dirt softened by the hard, cold rain that was pouring down around them. Sasuke's foot slid, and the resulting fall took him tumbling down the rock, mud, and weed covered slope.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called, leaping after his friend. He landed on his feet on the slope, sliding down sideways and coming to a stop at the bottom near where Sasuke had landed.

The Uchiha was still, lying on his right side with his back to the slope he had just fallen down. His clothes were stained with mud, and Naruto was frightened to see splatters of red among the brown.

Naruto fell to his knees next to Sasuke, carefully turning him over. Sasuke let out a sharp cry as he did so, his body automatically curling around his right arm, which he had clamped against his chest. Naruto nibbled on his bottom lip slightly, and then reached forward, gently prying Sasuke's arm away from his chest.

The smaller ninja swore colorfully at that, his eyes clenching tightly shut in pain. His hand hung useless at the end of his arm, which Naruto noted was broken in at least two places. After assessing this, the blond looked for the source of the blood, which he could see staining Sasuke's white shirt.

He located the source at Sasuke's left hip, which was bleeding sluggishly. What disconcerted him the most was the fact that the wound was clearly from a kunai, suggesting that Sasuke had been injured since the fight with the enemy nin. Naruto growled slightly, looking up at Sasuke. "Why didn't you tell me that you were hurt?" he demanded angrily, blue eyes smoldering.

Sasuke glared back at him with as much ferocity, clutching his arm to his chest once more. "It's just a scratch dobe, calm down."

His anger made him rash, and Naruto slapped a palm across the wound, making Sasuke gasp in pain, his body bucking slightly. "This is not just a scratch! Damnit Sasuke, I thought that you would know after all this time with me that you need to let me know when you get hurt!"

Naruto roughly jerked Sasuke onto his feet, but as soon as the raven-haired shinobi's weight rested on his feet he cried out and fell as his legs buckled. Naruto managed to catch him before he hit the ground, hoisting him into his arms bridal style with a sigh.

Sasuke growled at him. "Put. Me. Down."

"And what? Let you break that ankle instead of it just being twisted?" Naruto retorted, leaping away from the muddy bank. The movement jerked a soft sound of pain from Sasuke as his broken arm was jolted, but he managed to keep it from getting any louder.

Naruto sighed slightly, glancing around him for a place to set up the tent he carried in his pack. They were going to have to stay the night out here in the woods, there was no way they were going to be able to make it back to Konoha in this rain, especially with the way that Sasuke had led them off track.

He found a perfect spot beneath a tree not far from where Sasuke had fallen, quickly setting up the tent and getting Sasuke inside. There he made a temporary brace for the broken arm using a few solid pieces of wood and bandages from his pack. He wrapped Sasuke's now swollen ankle as well, then moved on to medicating and bandaging the no longer bleeding wound on his hip.

Sasuke watched this all with smoldering eyes, though Naruto could tell that something was still off. Sasuke's breathing was still a little labored, and his body kept swaying slightly where he sat.

"Stupid dobe…" Sasuke commented as said blond finished with his doctoring. "How come you didn't get hurt?"

"I did, actually. I just happen to heal faster because of the Kyuubi, you know that Sasuke." Naruto murmured, unfolding his bedroll and lying down. "Now get some sleep, we'll need to move fast in the morning so we can get you to a doctor."

"I told you already…" Sasuke griped, unrolling his own bedroll and starting to climb in. "I don't need a doctor."

Naruto watched with burning blue eyes as Sasuke winced upon lying down. "Sure. And I'm the Fourth Hokage."

Sasuke glared briefly at Naruto, but after a moment his eyes drifted shut and he seemed to focus on trying to regulate his breathing, which was still a little rapid and shallow.

No matter how hard he tried, Naruto couldn't get to sleep. He lay there for what seemed like hours, listening to the cold rain pounding against the tent, just staring into the darkness. It wasn't until some time later that he noticed another sound that didn't belong.

The blond rolled over to see Sasuke shivering in his bedroll. The sound had been the Uchiha's teeth chattering. Despite this, Sasuke's cheeks were flushed with color, which worried Naruto even more. He scooted closer to his friend, reaching out into the cold air to lay a hand across the other's forehead.

"Damnit…" Naruto murmured. "Now you've gone and gotten a fever…"

"I-I'm f-fine…" Sasuke ground out, his eyes opening slowly to glare up at Naruto.

The blond rolled his eyes, opening up his bedroll and dragging Sasuke up against his side. "Come here, teme. I'll have to keep you warm so your fever doesn't get worse. Being cold can't help it any."

Sasuke struggled for a moment, but then as Naruto's warmth seeped into his chilled body he calmed down and laid quietly. His last coherent thought was about how warm Naruto was, and then consciousness fled.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Naruto woke to pleasant warmth around him. He snuggled further into the blanket, and then his eyes snapped open as the memories of the night before came flooding back to him.

He instantly became aware of the warm weight against his side, and he looked down to see black hair spilling across his shoulder. He frowned as he felt the heat radiating from Sasuke's face where the older shinobi had it pressed against his skin, though the rest of the Uchiha felt like ice.

Naruto wriggled out from under Sasuke, fully expecting to wake him, though he was surprised when all that happened was a small moan of pain escaped Sasuke as his broken arm was jarred.

The blond frowned at that. As a shinobi, Sasuke slept the cat-like sleep of one, and normally you could hardly breathe in his presence and he would wake. Naruto put a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder, shaking it slightly. "Sasuke, wake up."

Dazed black eyes flickered open, and Sasuke swallowed thickly. "N-Naruto…"

Naruto sighed slightly, helping Sasuke to sit up and pulling out his water canister and holding it to Sasuke's dry and chapped lips. The black-haired teen gulped it down, breathing heavily as soon as he was finished. Naruto moved away as soon as he was sure that Sasuke could sit up on his own, beginning to roll up his bedroll. "Come on Sasuke, we need to get moving."

Sasuke said nothing, only started obediently packing up his things, though he did so with shaking limbs and rather slowly. Naruto ended up helping him in the end, and then pulling down the tent on his own.

Not long after that they were moving through the trees once more, Naruto attempting to find his way back towards the village through scent alone. He managed to get to the top of a tall tree and see a basic direction to go, as he could see the Hokage Mountain, but he still wanted to be able to follow something on the ground in case they had to sidetrack a little.

Luckily Sasuke's ankle was no longer swollen, so he deemed it safe to move on it. Naruto still wasn't so sure, but even feverish and with whatever poison that had been still working through his system, Sasuke was still stubborn as hell.

Sasuke kept up with him for a while, remaining completely silent with his broken arm held against his chest with bandages, and then he began to slowly lag behind. Naruto reined in his own pace, not wanting to leave him behind, but as Sasuke stumbled and nearly fell the Kyuubi container was forced to halt the movement.

"Sasuke…" he murmured as he moved back to his friend's side, where Sasuke had fallen to his hand and knees on a branch, panting heavily in an attempt to get his breath back.

Sasuke shook his head slightly, his black hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. Naruto knelt, sneaking a hand beneath the black bangs to put his palm against Sasuke's forehead. His fever had escalated, and by what Naruto could see his ankle was once again swollen.

Naruto sighed, lifting Sasuke into his arms. The Uchiha seemed a little confused by the movement, but he did not fight back, seemingly too tired and sick to care. The blond teen restarted his movement through the trees, cradling Sasuke to his chest as he moved.

Naruto could feel Sasuke relaxing against him as they went through the trees, and he paid it no mind at first. It would do Sasuke some good to sleep; it might help him fight off his fever. He didn't think about how difficult it had been that morning to wake the shinobi, but something in him had recognized what was happening.

_**"DON'T LET HIM SLEEP!"**_

Naruto repressed his cry of shock as the Kyuubi spoke up for the first time in nearly two weeks, its voice booming through his mind. Sure, Kyuubi never spoke to him often in the first place, and when it did it was usually never very helpful, but sometimes it actually acted in his best interests.

_"Don't let him sleep? Why?"_

**"I've finally recognized the scent that's been lingering around him since that battle yesterday. That poison, it's something that could kill him if he sleeps." **

_"But he slept last night and was fine…" _Naruto responded, shaking Sasuke slightly to make him open his eyes.

Kyuubi's voice was a growl when it spoke next. **"I suspect that because he is a shinobi his immune system managed to hold the poison off a little longer since he didn't get that large of a dose. However, with the state he is in now, plagued by fever and injuries, if he sleeps the poison will overwhelm him."**

Naruto felt his heart stop beating. _"Are you sure, Kyuubi?"_

**"I've seen it before." **

Naruto didn't bother to ask where, that was unimportant at the moment. He frantically shook Sasuke as the Uchiha began to relax once more, panic flooding through him. "Stay awake Sasuke, whatever you do!"

Sasuke's dulled eyes rose to look at Naruto, and his left hand clenched in the orange jacket. "Why?"

"Just do it! That poison is starting to affect you!" Naruto commanded, pouring on the speed and pushing himself as fast as he could go.

Sasuke sighed slightly, closing his eyes. Naruto shook him, startling him into wakefulness a moment later.

* * *

_(Present)_

"Come on… Come on!"

The blond pushed himself faster, trying to almost fly through the trees as he hurried back to his village, his breath fast and hard. The body against his chest was growing still and he jolted the figure sharply.

"Come on, stay awake, teme!"

Dull black eyes slowly traveled up to look at him, a slow blink covering them after a moment. The pale hand that was entwined in his jacket tightened for a moment, and then began to loosen once more.

Naruto let out a cry. "Damnit Sasuke, stay awake!"

Sasuke's head drooped again, his cheek lying against the orange clothed shoulder. "S'rry…" he murmured, and then his eyelids dropped, his fingers falling from the jacket.

Naruto braked suddenly, stopping on a tree branch. Sasuke's body had fallen limp in his grasp, the dark head falling back on a boneless neck. The blond felt panic flare through him. "Sasuke?"

Nothing.

Naruto shook the other roughly, fearfully. "Don't do this to me Sasuke, open your eyes!"

There was no response. Naruto's heart skipped a few beats, nearly stopping as he looked down at Sasuke's pale, and yet flushed, face. The Uchiha's face was completely relaxed, something that was almost never seen.

"No… No!"

Naruto started moving again, pouring on more and more speed as he leapt through the branches. 'Hold on, Sasuke! Please!'

The village wall came into sight an instant later, and Naruto ran straight for the gate, running through with Sasuke still clutched to his chest.

"Naruto!"

He recognized the voice of Sakura, and he turned to her, panic shining in his blue eyes. "Sakura! Hurry, we need to get him to the hospital!"

The pink-haired kunouchi frowned at that, a little confused, and then she noticed the still bundle cradled in Naruto's grasp. "What the…. Sasuke!"

She ran forward, sweeping the black bangs away from Sasuke's face with a gentle hand. "What happened, Naruto?" She hissed slightly as she felt his skin. "Gods, he's burning up!" She pulled back an eyelid to reveal dark orbs that were dominated by pupils, no iris was visible.

"Well come on! Follow me!" The girl turned and ran towards the hospital, leading the way through Konoha's streets. Naruto followed, soon passing by her in his haste as Sasuke's breathing started to speed up alarmingly.

Naruto felt his heart leap into his throat as Sasuke coughed slightly, blood trickling from the corner of his lips. "Sakura!" he screamed, turning to look at her. "He's coughing up blood!"

The girl swore loudly, earning several looks from the people they were passing by, and then she turned and leapt toward the Hokage tower, obviously heading to get Tsunade. Naruto continued until he reached the front door of the hospital, running inside and startling several medic-nins.

One of them seemed to realize what was going on and ran forward, pulling Naruto towards a gurney and directing him to lay Sasuke's shaking body there. Naruto was pulled away from his friend, fear flooding through him as he watched Sasuke being taken away from him, pulled somewhere deep into the hospital.

'Please… don't let him die…'

* * *

Sakura came out of the room some hours later to find Naruto sitting outside it, his head in his hands as he struggled to contain tears of frustration and fear. The blond looked up as soon as he heard the door open, his blue eyes shining with unshed tears. "Sakura?"

The girl sighed, settling down on the floor next to him. "The poison you said he inhaled. It was cyanide. We treated him; he'll be alright from that… The only thing is, with how long it was in his system, his vitals have degraded too far…"

Naruto frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Sasuke's… he's gone into a coma. We don't know if he'll wake up."


	4. Chapter 4

I'm not sure about the type of medical technology that the Narutoverse has. I'm taking artistic license. Bare with me, please! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 4

_Bip…bip…bip…_

Naruto sighed faintly, shifting in his chair next to Sasuke's hospital bed. The steady sound of the monitor in the background had turned into an almost whine in his ears, he hardly noticed it anymore.

Three weeks of the same sound could do that, he guessed.

He really didn't know what to do with himself. Tsunade had come by often, attempting to draw Sasuke out of the deep coma he had fallen into, but there had been no luck. All Naruto wanted was for Sasuke to open his eyes, but that hadn't happened since the Uchiha had been brought here.

The blond pushed himself to his feet, walking past the bed and heading for the window, staring out into the dreary day. Clouds had rolled in not long after he had arrived here, and now it was looking like it was going to rain. It seemed appropriate, that it would do that. Some part of Naruto felt that it should have been raining every day; the world shouldn't be cheerful when something this bad was happening.

Sakura visited every day, as often as she could, but her work as a medic-nin kept her away more often than not. She was sent out on missions periodically, and while Tsunade had wanted to send Naruto out, the blond had managed to convince her to let him stay with his friend.

Sasuke needed him; Naruto was convinced of that fact.

Naruto turned away from the dark day, looking back to the still form lying on the bed. Sasuke had not moved since that day three weeks ago, he only lay on the bed, silent, still, and pale. The tall ninja moved forward to stand beside the bed, reaching out and sweeping the black bangs away from Sasuke's forehead.

Luck had been with him that day; he had gotten Sasuke to the hospital just in time. According to Tsunade, only a few minutes later and Sasuke would have no doubt gone into cardiac arrest, and things may have been much worse. Personally Naruto couldn't see how it could get any worse. Sasuke was in a coma and might never wake up, there didn't seem to be a worse situation.

The blond went to sit in his chair again, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back while he watched Sasuke dutifully. It still amazed him how small the Uchiha seemed, surrounded by all the monitors and wires, a breathing mask fixed firmly over his mouth and nose. He had never thought Sasuke to be so tiny.

Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts as the door slid open behind him. He turned his head, his blue eyes meeting Tsunade's honey colored ones. The woman spared a small smile for the young man, moving into the room and shutting the door behind her.

"Hello Naruto. How are you today?" she questioned, opening up the file that she carried as she walked towards the bed.

Naruto didn't answer for a moment, and when he did his voice was soft. "Okay, I guess…"

Their relationship had changed over the past three weeks. Tsunade teased Naruto ever now and then, but when the blond would not respond, she had lost heart in it. Naruto just didn't have the cheerfulness that he had had before the accident, and the blond Hokage had a feeling that it would not return until his friend had woken up. The two young men had a bond that ran deep, and with one injured, the other would be different from normal.

It was strange, to see Naruto so down and quiet. It was nothing like his normal self, and frankly it was disconcerting. Tsunade made a mental note to try and avoid Naruto the next time he was like this.

The Hokage gathered chakra around her hand, holding it over Sasuke's chest as she examined the comatose Uchiha. There was no change in his systems, his brain waves and chakra were still in the comatose state, and he would not wake up any time soon. His heartbeat was a little shallow for her liking, but steady nonetheless.

His breathing, however, was too slow. She frowned, moving to the side of the room and adjusting some of the medicines that were being siphoned into Sasuke's system through IVs. Hopefully that would help him a little…

"Well?"

Naruto's soft inquiry popped her out of her thoughts, and Tsunade turned to look at the boy that she had come to think of as family. "He's… alright, Naruto. He's not any worse than he was yesterday, but there's no improvement either. The only thing I'm worried about now is his nutrition."

Naruto frowned at that. "What's wrong?"

Tsunade sighed, running a hand through her bangs. "He's too thin, Naruto. And he's losing more weight every day. There's only so much we can do without him being awake enough to ingest real food. We haven't gotten anything solid into him since you brought him to us." She glanced back at the small form on the bed. "I don't know how much longer we can continue giving him nutrients like this."

Naruto nibbled on his lower lip, his own eyes moving to Sasuke. "There's nothing else that you can do?"

Tsunade shook her head. "We've tried to feed him, but it just comes back up. The most we can get in him orally is thin broth or soup, and sometimes even that doesn't stay down. We've had him on IVs since he got here, but that can only do so much in the place of food. He needs more than that."

The jounin felt worry flood through his system as he looked at his friend. "And there's nothing that says he's gonna wake up?"

"Not any time soon. His brain patterns are still in the comatose state, until those readings come up, there's no indication that he's going to come out of this." She shook her head slightly. "I think we're going to have to put him on a feeding tube as well as the IV. He's much too thin to be fighting like this."

She turned, starting to leave the room. Naruto remained still, staring at Sasuke with worry and fear in his sapphire eyes. Just before Tsunade closed the door she turned back to the ninja. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I had hoped for better news. Just… don't give up hope."

Naruto nodded slightly, but said nothing. The soft click of the door sliding shut reached him and he lowered his head, a single tear falling from his eye.

'Please Sasuke… I don't want you to die… You're my best friend…'

* * *

_"Sasuke…" _

_"Wake up, Sasuke…" _

_"Please…" _

Sasuke opened his eyes. He felt… serene. At peace. Totally and completely calm for the first time in… well, a long time. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this… complete.

He let his eyes drift close again. He felt so tired… Perhaps it was a good idea to rest…

Sleep…

* * *

Naruto was jolted out of his sleep by the feeling that something was horribly wrong. He sat bolt upright, looking around the dark room with wide blue eyes. 'I guess I fell asleep…' 

He scrubbed a hand across his face, waking himself up fully as he tried to figure out what he was feeling. Sasuke seemed okay, he was motionless on the bed. The only difference was that his heartbeat seemed a little slow. Naruto didn't pay this much mind; Sasuke's heartbeat had been fluctuating in the 8 weeks he had been in a coma.

He stood, moving through the room to look out the window. He frowned as he did, the feeling growing worse as he pulled back the curtain.

There was nothing outside, the dark of the night swallowing up all but a few remaining lights inside Konoha. Naruto let the curtain fall back in place, turning to look at Sasuke once more.

_Bip… bip… bip………bip…………bip………_

Naruto felt his heart leap into his throat. That was not normal…

_Bip…………bip……………beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-_

"SASUKE!"

* * *

Yes. Yes I am an evil bitch. Review! 


	5. Chapter 5

Terribly sorry for the long wait, I wanted to make sure that this chapter was right... I'm still not quite sure I like it, but I suppose it's better than what I started with. I hope that you enjoy this FINAL chapter, and please leave one last review! That's right, this is the LAST chapter of Toxicity!

* * *

Chapter 5

_Bip…………bip……………beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-_

"SASUKE!"

Naruto leapt to Sasuke's side, attempting to find a way to help him, but he knew that there was nothing he could do as he stared at Sasuke's pale still face. He felt his heart pounding in panic, and then the door flew open and hands grabbed at his arms, pulling him backwards.

"No! Let me stay with him! HE NEEDS ME!" Naruto screamed, fighting the strong grip on him, trying to get back to his best friend's side.

"Naruto, come on, you have to let them help him!"

Sakura's voice somehow snapped Naruto out of his panic and his muscles relaxed, allowing the girl to drag him backwards out of the way. He saw Tsunade rush forward to place her hands against Sasuke's chest, but then he was pulled out of the room.

"Hey… Sakura! Let me back there!" Naruto protested, pulling again, but Sakura yanked on him harder.

"It's better that we're out of the way, there's nothing that we can do for him now but let the medics bring him back." Sakura said firmly, her seafoam eyes serious as she looked at her friend. "Understand?"

Naruto nodded reluctantly, allowing Sakura to drag him away from the room where Sasuke lay. He could still feel his heart beating in his throat, and while his every sense screamed for him to return to his friend, he knew that Sakura was right. He would only be in the way, and could do nothing more than remove himself from the situation.

He sat with Sakura in the cafeteria for some time, Sakura eventually bringing him some food when he made no motion to do anything else. She deposited a bowl of ramen in front of him, a stern look on her face. "I have no idea how long it's been when you ate, you need something in you, even if it's just ramen. Eat."

The blond stared at it for a moment, and then his eyes traveled up to meet Sakura's. She frowned and motioned toward the bowl and Naruto sighed, picking up the chopsticks and slurping up the treat, though he did so with no enthusiasm. His mind was still on Sasuke, not on food.

As soon as he finished the bowl he pushed himself to his feet, intending to head back to the room. Sakura followed him silently, not impeding him at all, a serious look on her own face.

Naruto came to the door to find that it was open slightly, and he peeked inside to see Tsunade standing over Sasuke, a glowing hand held over the Uchiha's forehead and her eyes closed in concentration. Sasuke was breathing steadily now, his heartbeat steady for the first time in nearly 6 weeks.

Naruto felt hope spike. This had to be a good sign, there was no way that Sasuke could not be getting better with that change.

He didn't speak as he entered the room, not wanting to destroy Tsunade's concentration, and eventually Sakura leaned down to murmur in his ear, having obviously figured out what was going on.

"She's trying to draw him out. Something must have changed for the better after they revived him." Sakura murmured quietly. "His chakra is up, that's a good sign."

Naruto nodded slightly to show that he'd heard, but did nothing else, hoping and praying that Sasuke would be okay. Tsunade's brows twitched together slightly, and then the chakra glow around her hand vanished and she opened her eyes.

As her honey colored eyes moved up to his Naruto couldn't help it, he spoke into the silence. "Well? Is he okay?"

Tsunade's only response was to look back down at the Uchiha lying on the hospital bed. Naruto stared for a moment, and then followed her gaze apprehensively.

Sasuke's obsidian eyes were open. They were dazed and rather unfocused, but for the first time in 8 weeks they were open, and Sasuke was awake. Naruto dashed forward, dropping into his customary chair beside Sasuke's bed. "Sasuke?"

The black eyes slowly traveled over to his face, blinking sluggishly. Recognition dawned and Sasuke smirked weakly. "Hey… dobe…"

Naruto felt tears gather in his eyes. "Sasuke… Thank the Fourth you're okay…"

Tsunade's voice broke the following silence. "Well, things look to be okay. His heartbeat is stable, though still a little shaky, and his breathing and chakra levels are finally back to normal. Be glad that he's so stubborn, he might not have pulled through."

Naruto chuckled, the sound a little watery. "He's an Uchiha, baachan, what did you expect him to be?"

The woman nodded, a laugh on her lips. "Too true. I'll be back later to check on him, just talk to him for a bit, see what he remembers, things like that. Keep him awake if you can, but if he needs to sleep go ahead and let him."

The blond jounin nodded, watching as the Hokage left the room, leaving Team 7 in there alone. Sakura collapsed into the spare chair, relief flooding over her face and through her body. 'He's okay… he's really okay…'

Sasuke looked back and forth between his two team members, a slightly confused look on his face. "What happened?"

Sakura shook herself back to reality, her medic side kicking in. "First tell us what you remember, Sasuke, that's important so we can tell if your mind is still working properly."

Sasuke blinked at that, but obediently recited what he remembered. "Naruto and I were out on a mission, and we got attacked by some enemy nin. I was attacked with the Dokugiri jutsu, and we started back towards the village. From there on it gets… fuzzy."

The pink-haired girl nodded to herself. "Sounds good, according to Naruto that's about when you started acting funny, so it's likely that your memories would be shaky. Do you know where you are?"

"The hospital. I hate hospitals."

Naruto snorted. "We know, Sasuke, but at this point it's important that you're here. You almost died, you know."

Sasuke's black eyebrows twitched together. "I almost died? What happened?"

"You've been in a coma for 8 weeks; you just barely came out of it after going into cardiac arrest. Tsunade managed to pull your consciousness out of the coma right after she revived you." Sakura informed him, a small smile on her face as she was once again flooding with the relief that her teammate was alright.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Eight weeks?.!" He ran a hand through his bangs. "No wonder my body feels so weighted down…"

Naruto grinned. "The important thing is that you're alright now, but you have to promise me one thing."

Sasuke blinked. "What's that, dobe?"

"LISTEN TO ME NEXT TIME!"

The explosion made Sasuke shrink back a little, but he smirked slightly after the initial shock. "I can do that."

Naruto grinned. "Good."


End file.
